The Ultimate 20-Minute Office Workout

Coming home after a super-productive day at the office can leave you feeling like you’ve run a marathon. But, as you think back over your day, you may find you’ve spent most of it hunched over your desk or sat in a chair. And, while you may have given yourself an impressive mental workout, your body probably hasn’t had the same level of love and attention.

That’s why we’ve teamed up with Fitbit and London Fitness Guy to help you get moving at work. We’ve created the ultimate 20-minute office workout with five high-intensity exercises, to help you feel more energised during your working day. Check out the exercises and their surprising results below.

The dangers of being desk-bound

If your work involves sitting down for long periods of time, you may have experienced some of the negative side effects that can follow, such as back pain, stiff muscles and eye strain.

A recent report by the British Heart Foundation (BHF)[1] found that people who spend prolonged periods of time sitting (even if they’re active outside of work) can face a whole host of health problems. If you spend hours at work sitting down, you could be facing an increased risk of diabetes, heart and circulatory disease, and general poor health.

Celebrity fitness expert James Stirling, better known as the London Fitness Guy, knows a thing or two about the importance of staying active. He explains: “Maintaining any position for a long time can cause strain on the back. […] Individuals should be encouraged to alternate their sitting position and take breaks to avoid slouching.”

The ultimate 20-minute office workout

To prove anyone can do these exercises, we asked five volunteers of varying fitness levels to try them out over the course of a working week. All full-time desk workers, our team of five fitness warriors wore Fitbits to help track and monitor their progress.

Our volunteers burned an average of 576 calories over the week. That’s approximately the same as four 330ml cans of Coca Cola or four fingers of Twix chocolate.[2]

Over the course of a working year, this workout could help you burn an average of 27,072 calories if exercising every day.

“I definitely felt fitter, heathier and happier”

Once they got over the initial muscle soreness – we did say this was a high-intensity workout – our volunteers raved about its positive, mood-lifting benefits.

“I particularly liked the fact that the workouts targeted different areas of the body,” commented our highest performing volunteer, Joe Shervell. Burning 200 calories on Thursday afternoon, Joe might have had his Fitbit to thank for his impressive performance. “Reading into the data can be quite addictive,” he admitted, adding that “it’s impressive to see how many calories can be burned from what feels like a fairly straightforward exercise.”

Adding more activity to the workday

If our ultimate office workout has you eager for more movement, there’s plenty you can do to stay more active during the day. Some top recommendations from London Fitness Guy include:

- Going for a walk or run during any free time you have.

- Regularly stretching at the desk, working the muscles that don’t get used when you’re sitting.

- Setting alarms on your phone or using your Fitbit device to prompt you to move away from your desk.

As our volunteers would agree, adding more activity to your day can be incredibly motivating. So, why not add some activity into your 9 to 5 with our ultimate office workout? Don’t forget to use a Fitbit fitness tracker during your exercises to help keep an eye on your progress.